Pride Online

Finally!

Freaking finally! After walking for more than 5 kilometers, He finally arrived at his destination! In front of him, there was an entrance gate made of huge stones with an engraved sign with the word Albasta. The street beneath it was crowded with the players busily passing through, in and out.

“So, we’re here, Jinnie?” Wisana asked.

“Yes, master.”

The young man smiled, feeling pleased. Even though she was kind of silly, the AI could guide him here.

“Let’s go in, so I can start searching for Warunya’s trace.”

He said and stepped foot in Albasta.

The first sight he saw was exactly like the scenery from fantasy movies. People dressed up in unfamiliar clothes, only a few dressed up in normal style like him. Other than that, there were many strange animals walking on the street with them. The most common ones were the large birds, used as vehicles. Along the sides of the street, there were stores and stalls with merchants, calling their customers to stop by, overlapping with each other. They were presenting some odd goods that Wisana had never seen before and that caught his attention, more or less.

“This game makes a magic world look so real, so fantasy.”

“Move! Move away!”

Suddenly, there was someone shouting from behind him, making Wisana flinch. He turned around and saw a man riding a creature that looked like a raptor dinosaur. It was dragging a wood board with wheels, but that was not the point! The dinosaur almost ran him over, as it hastily came in his direction.

Couldn’t it just slow down?!

“Sh*t!” he cursed as he jumped to the side, narrowly dodging in time.

“Look where you’re going, moron! This is in the middle of the street!” the dinosaur rider yelled.

“You’re a moron! No one told you to drive slowly in a city?! Are you in such a hurry to die?” Wisana yelled after him as he snarled and waved his fist in the air with anger. But the guy ignored him, riding away with the remains of an elephant-like creature on the wheeled wood board.

“Damn, there’s motorpunk in the game, too?” Wisana complained, then he started walking again. After surveying the town for a while, he started to get excited. The buildings and houses were built of stones in a medieval theme. Besides, the people here were vigorous, and Wisana could not help but get carried away.

Wait. No!

He was here to look for Warunya, not to enjoy the game!

Wisana once again forgot his main mission. He shook his head to get it together. At that moment, he saw a fountain in the center of the town, surrounded by a small garden and a couple of benches. So, he decided to take a rest there, avoiding the crowd and figuring out what to do next.

“Jinnie.” He called, after sitting down on a bench.

“Yes, master?”

“If we want to find someone in the game, what do we do?”

“To find other players, there are two ways you can do it. One, you can buy the information from the association of explorers, Pride’s biggest information trader. They have news, monster information, maps, including player's information. The price depends on the difficulty of the information.”

So, this association was like a call center service where the players went in to ask for stuff or something like that. He nodded a couple of times in response before he looked around.

“Where is the association?”

“Please, wait for a moment, I am now downloading Albasta’s map.”

Jinnie said and went quiet for a while.

“Download completed.”

“How’s that?”

“There is no association of explorers in Albasta, sir. It is just a frontier town. If you need to go to the association, I suggest one in the capital.”

The listener let out a long sigh. “That’s what I thought.”

“Do you still want to know about the second way to find other players?”

“Sure.”

Wisana replied carelessly. Even the way that sounded the easiest, was still too difficult. So, the other one would not be any different. The irritation from walking and these troubles got him, so he let out a long sigh again and leaned his back against the bench with no expectation.

“The other way to find other players, you can use Jinnie by upgrading ram for me to search for them, sir.”

“Huh?” he raised his eyebrows. “We can do that?”

“Yes, master. According to what I said earlier, I am now just a level 1 AI. However, you can upgrade my level to improve my abilities. I will be able to upload and search for other players’ information and analyze monsters. As well as my emotions will improve.”

“So, if I upgrade your ram, you will be able to find a person for me?”

“That is right.”

The confirmation brought a smile to the brown-eyed young man.

“Perfect! Why didn’t you say this sooner? At least I don’t have to walk all the way to the capital. Good job, girl.”

“Thank you, sir”

Getting a compliment from her master, her voice sounded a little bright. But not as bright as her master's smile when he began to see a solution. Also, he started to feel that AI Jinnie was quite useful if he used it in the right way.

“And how do I upgrade you?” Wisana asked.

“Normally, ram is an item that is dropped from monsters. The faster the ram frequency is, the rarer it becomes. However, it can be found at a shop, as well, but from players’ shops only.”

“Let’s go shopping, then,” Wisana concluded before he looked at the market.

-----------------

“35,000 coins?!”

The shouting was Wisana’s, as well as widened eyes after he randomly walked into a stall to look for the item. And its price made him drop a sweat.

“That’s right, bro. No discounting.”

A tall man in a thin white shirt topped with a black waistcoat and a red headband answered in a lazy voice. As if he already knew that this man in front of him was a newbie and could not afford to buy it.

“Why is it so expensive, bro?”

“Well, so you really are a newbie, aren’t you?”

The young merchant shrugged, thinking he had to generously explain it to this guy. “These rams are not sold by common NPCs, okay? They are also disposable, which makes them even more expensive. Even though you might find one from some 20-ish level monsters, the drop rate is very low. So, no discounting.”

“D... drop?”

Even though Wisana got stunned catching up with these unfamiliar words, the merchant was still patient with him and did not chase him away, yet. So, it would not hurt to try something else.

“Is there anything cheaper?” Wisana asked.

“No. This one is grade D. it’s already the cheapest.”

“You really can’t lower the price?”

“No. If you doubt me, you can go check the other shops, too. It has to be this price to break even.”

The answer made Wisana hang his head, then he nodded to end the conversation with this merchant, accepting that he failed in negotiation. He walked out of there helplessly.

“Jinnie, how much money do I have?” Wisana asked.

“Please wait... Currently, you have 5,000 coins, sir.”

“Sh*t...” He drawled his voice with boredom. “I can’t even buy a wreckage ram with that.”

He said as he carried himself out of the crowded market as far as he could while forcing his brain to figure out how to make money. When there was a solution, obstacles came. See, this was why he hated playing games so much!

“How do I earn some money?”

“How about you sell some of your items?”

Wisana paused at the AI’s idea. He narrowed his eyes, then asked with a cheerful face, looking completely different from two minutes ago.

“I can do that?”

“Definitely, sir. Items trading with other players or NPCs is a basic way to earn money in the game. The trading system in Pride is made to be easy and convenient for players. Everyone can trade anything with any shop you find in any town without any terms or conditions.”

“I thought you could only sell items when you play merchant class.”

“That is a misunderstanding, sir” Jinnie disagreed. “Every class can sell their items. However, in the case of merchant class players, they will have special skills only for their class. For example, advertisements, tax incentives, and buying at wholesale prices.”

“I see.” Wisana nodded.

“Besides trading with NPCs and other players, you can sell your items at shops and stalls in towns, as well.

“So, which one is better, the store or stall?”

“I suggest you trade with a shop where they have their own building. Because if they can buy a place to run their business, it means that their business has more funds to buy from players. And most importantly, shop owners need to register with the association of merchants. And that is like a certificate of an ethically good merchant, so there is less chance that you will be exploited.”

After Jinnie finished her lecture, Wisana smiled widely, slowing down his steps.

“Jinnie.”

“Yes, master?”

“If I upgrade you, will you be able to improve your face or body, and come out for me to see?”

“Yes, master. You need to upgrade Jinnie to the highest level, so I can be personalized. Then, I can even help you fight.”

“Great.” He shouted. “When that happens, don’t forget to remind me.”

“What would you like me to remind you of, master?”

“To kiss you on the cheek, Jinnie! Thank you, girl. You help me a lot!”

“Y... Yes, master.”

Wisana smiled, amused that her voice was trembling a bit as if she was being shy. He started walking again in a good mood, asking for the town’s map to find the shop. A holographic window popped up, showing literally everything in the town that it got a little dazzling. The tiny words on it said that there was a library, potion store, weapon store, clothing store, crystal store, land property store, ...why were there so many?!

“Jinnie, can you check my items?” Wisana said as he rubbed on his temple in confusion.

“Please wait... checking completed. In your inventory, there are these items as the following,”

After she finished, another hologram popped up in front of Wisana. He traced a finger along with the names under the pictures, attentively.

Inventory

Water potion energy drink, 5

Rock, 15

Guidebook for newbies, 1

Gold star treasure, 1

Angel’s feather, 1

“What about the map, Jinnie,” Wisana asked.